Economic development still top concern locally

The University of Tennessee on behalf of Plan East Tennessee, or PlanET, has released the results of a second community survey that measures public opinion about challenges and opportunities facing the region and priorities for future growth.

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By from staff reports

Oakridger - Oak Ridge, TN

By from staff reports

Posted Mar. 24, 2013 at 8:43 PM

By from staff reports
Posted Mar. 24, 2013 at 8:43 PM

The University of Tennessee on behalf of Plan East Tennessee, or PlanET, has released the results of a second community survey that measures public opinion about challenges and opportunities facing the region and priorities for future growth.

UT conducted a telephone survey for PlanET with residents from Anderson, Blount, Knox, Loudon and Union counties, according to a news release issued Wednesday afternoon. PlanET is a regional partnership of communities

in these five counties building a shared direction for the future.

Although the results on a regional level showed that 78 percent of survey respondents rated the quality of life in their community as “good” or “excellent,” respondents cited improving the quality of education in public schools and creating more manufacturing jobs as the two most important economic and workforce development factors for improving life in the future.

Anderson County

survey highlights:

• Economic and workforce development is one focus area for PlanET and continues to be reported by survey respondents as the highest priority for improving the future quality of life in the area.

• Reducing drug abuse was consistently reported to be the highest priority for promoting healthy communities. Approximately one of three in the region (32.2 percent) identified reducing drug abuse as a top priority and this percentage increased to almost half of the respondents in Anderson County (40.1 pecent).

• The most important environmental factor for improving the quality of life in the future varied by county and by different segments of respondents. Those in Anderson County indicated that reducing water pollution in lakes, streams and rivers was the top priority.

• Attitudes about protecting or preserving agricultural land also differed between counties demonstrated by respondents, with only 14.8 percent in Anderson County choosing this factor as the most important.

• Respondents from Anderson County were particularly interested in increasing availability of public transportation. Almost one of three from Anderson County (29.8 percent) reported that increasing the availability of public transportation was the most important factor for improving their quality of life.

The first survey was conducted between February and March 2012 using the same methodology and sample size. Together, the two surveys will help assess the public’s priorities for the region for the next 30 years.

“This survey has helped identify the long-term quality of life priorities for people in the five-county PlanET region,” said Mark Donaldson, director of the Knoxville-Knox County Metropolitan Planning Commission. “Added to the results of the first survey completed last year, the second offers corroboration of the values and vision expressed by residents of the region during the earlier phases of the PlanET process."

For more information about PlanET, how to participate in the community forums or the survey results, visit the website, www.planeasttn.org.